Demi Lovato Talks ‘X Factor,’ Recovery + New Album Plans

Demi Lovato is on a career high. Her single, ‘Give Your Heart a Break,’ is her biggest seller and airplay success to date, she’s the newest ‘X Factor‘ judge and she’s on tour getting her hair pulled by fans worldwide. Not only that, but she’s healthier than ever before. She sat down with iVillage to chat about her new judging gig, Simon Cowell and why dating is off the table for now.

Lovato revealed that the cantankerous Cowell isn’t mean in real life — and neither is Britney Spears, though Cowell insists the two pop starlets are catty. “He’s totally joking! With this show, there’s not really the mean one, the nice one, the funny one — we don’t have the typical panel of judges,” she said. “I think we’re all really honest and sometimes it can come off as mean. We also joke around, and we like to have a lot of fun. There’s definitely been times when me and Britney have said no to people when Simon and L.A. say yes,” she admitted. “We just have a different view on pop stars and celebrities because we’re in the pop industry ourselves. Simon and L.A. know a lot, for sure — but from an artist’s point of view, I feel maybe I’m more critical of the people on stage. For instance, if they say, ‘Oh, I didn’t have time to practice enough’ or ‘I only got two hours of sleep,’ I think I’m a little bit more critical,” she explained. “I’m like, ‘If you want to make it in this industry, you sometimes don’t even get to sleep at night.’ There are no excuses.’” Especially not for contestants who rap about bath salts.

That’s not to say Lovato is necessarily comfortable making people upset. “You’re kind of shattering someone’s dreams. When they’ve made it that far and you’re telling them no, it’s really difficult to watch,” she said. “And I’ve had to let go of some really great people because there’s been a huge amount of really talented people and only a specific number could get through,” she lamented. She also explained that there’s a certain demographic she feels guiltiest about letting go. “We are very excited with the talent that we have, but of course it’s difficult to let people go — especially when they’re older and this is their last chance to make it.” The girl’s got empathy!

Because she’s so focused on work and her recovery, Demz has no time for dramz — especially not from dudes. Sorry, Niall Horan! “There’s actually nothing that a guy can do to change my mind right now,” Lovato said firmly of her no-dating stance. “It doesn’t matter how frickin’ good-looking you are, or funny, or how in love with them I am. Right now, there’s nobody more important to me than myself and my recovery. I think that’s a thing that a lot of young girls need to remember. There’s no one more important than themselves, especially when it comes to girls that are in their late teens or early teens and are trying to figure out who they are,” she advised. “It’s really easy to be influenced by a guy that you like, and this is a period of time when you need to figure out yourself. That’s what I’m doing right now.” You go, girl!

Demi admits that recovery hasn’t been necessarily easy, but she’s doing well at the moment. “It’s been an up-and-down roller coaster,” she admitted. “It hasn’t been totally perfect since I got out of treatment, and I’d be lying if I told you that it has. But at this moment right now, and for a while now, it’s been smooth sailing. I feel like I’m just cruising and having a really amazing time in life,” she gushed. “I wouldn’t have been able to make it through a summer tour while hosting the Teen Choice Awards and doing ‘X Factor’ at the same time if I wasn’t in a healthy state of mind. I don’t really necessarily have an update, but I think that kind of proves itself.”

The pressure to be perfect, Lovato insists, was a lot more difficult to deal with than the pressure to get healthy. “It used to feel like a lot of pressure because I wasn’t really honest with everyone. I feel like it’s not a lot of pressure when you’re just being yourself and you’re telling the truth about things,” she said. “I had issues that I was dealing with in privacy, and I was doing things that normal teenagers go through. But I definitely didn’t feel like a role model at the time. Now that I’ve talked about the issues that I’ve dealt with, I feel that I’ve been very honest and open. When people still call me an inspiration after that, I don’t feel pressured at all,” she added. “I really am just being myself with everyone, and when people accept me for who I am, it feels really, really great.”

That wasn’t Demz’s only news. At a recent performance at the KDWB State Fair in Minnesota, Demi, sporting an adorbs floppy black hat and rep lipstick, revealed that after her MTV Video Music Awards pre-show performance, she’s gearing up to work on her fourth album. She hopes to release a single by December. We can’t wait!